Back in November, I ordered a 19 piece Gunter Wilhelm knife set for Leighan for Christmas using their PayPal payment method. I didn’t really know anything about the brand other than that the steel is German 440C, the prices are good & online reviews say mostly good things. With the order confirmed, I figured I was done shopping.

Christmas Eve rolled around and… no knives. PayPal showed the charge went through and I have confirmation messages. The best I could figure, Gunter Wilhelm sent the knives but didn’t send them in time for Christmas. Around 9pm on Christmas Eve, I emailed the company and asked for a refund since, obviously, I wouldn’t have the knives in time for Christmas morning. After that, I went to bed.

Next thing I know, at 2am Christmas morning, my doorbell rings. I had no idea who it could be. After looking out a side window, I opened the door to a big box on my doorstep and a livery cab (Lincoln Town car) in front of the house. Clearly, someone from the company booked a car to my house to deliver the knives by hand. “Merry Christmas from Gunter Wilhelm”, I heard from the street.

I’d later find out that was the owner of the company, Paul Hellman. As it happens, the company is based here in New Jersey – he was just getting back from Hong Kong but received my message, found an error in PayPal’s processing and decided to act. That was him out in the street on Christmas morning. Wow.

The knives are really nice but I thought I’d post this story as an example of how Gunter Wilhelm’s customer service turned what would have been a negative customer experience into a positive one. One of the reasons I bought the knives was because of their no-questions warranty – I trust if I ever have to contact them, they’ll be just as responsive.